Since 1985, the lawyers at Shapiro & Appleton have dedicated their practice to helping people when they need it most. Our clients are usually down and out after a serious accident, struggling financially, physically, and emotionally. We take pride in advocating for the downtrodden and injured and getting the financial restitution they are owed.

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We are very proud of the success we have had in obtaining large settlements, arbitration awards, judgments, and jury verdicts. Our success is based mainly on our experience in courtrooms across Virginia.

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By adapting and being familiar with not only Virginia and North Carolina Courts, but also Courts throughout the Eastern United States, our attorneys have developed a set of skills that can be incredibly useful in every sort of significant personal injury case.

The attorneys with our firm actively engage in continuing legal education seminars in the field of injury law. Our lawyers have also regularly delivered lectures to personal injury lawyers not only in Virginia but at national trial organizations.

To stay on the leading edge of personal injury law, all of the firm's attorneys are active in local, state, and national personal injury trial law organizations. We also retain the services of forensic animators, videographers, and computer specialists to produce compelling evidence that will persuade a jury to award maximum damages.

How Cameras On Bikes Are Convicting Dangerous Drivers

When the driver and the cyclist appeared before a judge, the driver refused to take responsibility for the accident, which is quite common in these mishaps. In this case, however, the biker had a camera mounted on his bike and had the entire accident recorded.

The cyclist simply handed the judge a video of the wreck. The judge watched it and declared the driver guilty. The fine was only for failure to yield, but this case shows that affordable video cameras are making it easier to hold a dangerous driver accountable for hitting a biker.

According to a 2013 study of 633 biker deaths over a year, the League of American Bicyclists determined that just 45% of the cases had any evidence of legal enforcement, and only 12% of the drivers were sentenced.

These cameras are offering some hope for the future. If a biker is killed in an accident, the camera may be the only witness to the crime. Or, a person with serious injuries may not remember what happened. Even when the cyclist can recount all of the details of the accident, it can be tough to prove in court.

Video evidence is also being used in some bike accidents to get the driver’s insurance company to pay damages. It is not clear at this time how much the cameras will help in criminal cases, but there is no doubt that bike cameras are helping to hold more drivers accountable.

Our View

As Virginia car accident attorneys, we hope that the wide availability of inexpensive video cameras, such as the Go Pro, will help to reduce accidents with bicyclists. In a recent year, at least 11 people in Virginia were killed in bicycle accidents, and most of them were the driver’s fault. And while many people in bike accidents survive, they often have severe injuries that can plague them for life.